Abdominal supporting belt



July 1, 1958 F. s. ERICSSON ABDOMINAL SUPPORTING BELT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 26, 1955 Fig. 4

nV Em H July 1, 1958 F. s. ERICSSON ABDOMINAL SUPPORTING BELT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 26, 1956 INVENTOR.

l BY an( n 0 5 s .m r E S w m F United States Patent C ABDOMINAL SUPPORTING' BELT Francis S..Ericssn, Warren, Pa.

Application October 26, 1956, Serial No. 618,574

4 Claims. (Cl. 1284-547)l This invention generally relates to a. garment and moreY particularly toa supporting belt especially adapted for. providing support for the abdomen during the gestation periodand more particularly relates. to a direct improvement on my previous Patent No. 2,587,450issued February 26, 1952.

An object of the present invention is,` to provide a supporting belt or girdle ofthe maternity variety which primarily consists of a front half sliding throughy an. arc in contact with the rear half tov allow for abdominal expansion. as gestation progresses without gaps forming laterally.

A further object of the presentinvention is to provide a supporting belt. or. girdlein accordance with the preceding object inv which the front half consists; of two. portions Xed bi-laterally to the convexly curved` endswhich allows freedom of adjustment tol support the.- abdomen especially during the latter months. of gestation..

Yet another object of the present invention iste-provide a girdle of the type set forth previously in which the sliding action of the two individual pieces of the front portion allows for more individual adjustment for better support over a larger area of the abdomen as the enlargement of the abdomen occurs.

Other objects of the present invention will reside in its simplicity of construction, adaption for its particular purposes and its relatively inexpensive manufacturing cost.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like l numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view illustrating the supporting belt of the present invention in assembled relation during the initial stages of pregnancy;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the invention similar to Figure 1 with the device illustrated in use during the middle stages of pregnancy;

Figure 3 is a side elevational View similar to Figures l and 2 illustrating the device in use during the latter stages of pregnancy;

Figure 4 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of Figure 1 illustrating the details of the connection between the back half and front half of the supporting belt;

Figure 5 is a plan View of the back half of the supporting belt;

Figure 6 is a plan view of the front half of the supporting belt with portions thereof broken away illustrating the details of construction;

Figure 7 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 7-7 of Figure 5 illustrating the structural arrangement of the back half of the belt; and

Figure 8 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 8-8 of Figure 6 24,840,822 Patented July l, 195.8

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illustrating the construction of the front half of the abdominal supporting belt.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the abdominal supporting belt of the present invention which incorporates av front half generally designated bythe numeral 1'2 and a. back half generally designatedby the numeral14.

Referring now specifically to Figures 5 andv 7, the back half 14 includes an inner. member 16. and an outer member. 1S which are provided with substantial width andwhich are disposed in angular relation to each other as illustrated in Figure 5. The; free. ends. of the members 16 andl I8 which maybe referred to as panel members are. interconnected by rows ofstitching 20.Whiel also support and connect an edging member 22r thereto. rThe edging member 22 is provided `with aseresof in-` wardly facing sockets 24 of the snap fastener variety which may be considered female snap fastener. elements. The outer edge of the edging member 22 is provided with a. binding4 tape 26 for providing a neat construction. The free edge of the edging member 24 is concave and the plurality of. female snap fastener elements` 24 are arranged. in a concave arc. Extending downwardly from the bottom. edge of the edging member 22 at` each side of the rear half 14 is astocking support strap 28 of any conventional construction for holding. stockings` in` position. The rear half of the garment engages the lower portion ofthe back substantially as` illustrated in Figures 1-3 inclusive. The panels 16 and 18 may be. constructed of a resilient material which has a: resiliencyjboth longitudinally and laterally forv permitting resilient movement of. the, panels 16 and 18. to permit the, garment to adapt to the shape ofthe person wearingthesame.

The front half 12 of the abdominal supporting belt 10 includes an inner panel member 30 and an outer panel member 32 which are also disposed in angular relation to each other with the ends of the inner panel member 3l) being disposed below the ends of the outer panel member 32. The edges of the panel members 30 and 32 are secured together by arcuate rows of stitching 34 and the free edge of the front half 12 is convex and provided with a binding tape 36 for supporting a plurality of male snap fastener elements 38 arranged in an arcuate manner complementary to the arrangement of the arcuate female snap fastener elements 24 whereby the snap fastener elements 24 and 38 may be engaged for attaching the front half 12 to the rear half 14 as illustrated in Figure l. The bottom central portion of the inner panel 39 has been provided with a dart or slit 40 extending upwardly from the bottom edge wherein the slit 40 is formed by a V-shaped dart being cut therein and a joining tape 42 is then provided for securing the edges of the slit 40 in adjacent position thus providing a fullness in the top of the inner panel 30 and in the bottom of the outer panel 32 when the device is not under a tension. This arrangement permits the front half 12 of the belt 1u to be adjusted. inrelation to the back half 14 by engaging different series of snap fastener elements 24 and 38 thus providing adequate support for the abdomen during the various stages of pregnancy or as gestation advances as illustrated in Figures 1-3. As gestation advances, the angular relationship between the inner and outer panels 36 and 32 changes due to the increased expansion of the upper surface of the inner panel 30 which permits the inner panel 30 to assume the position illustrated in Figure 3 and also due to the arrangement of the edges of the front half 12 thus permitting the outer panel 32 to assume the position illustrated in Figure 3 thus providing support for substantially the entire abdomen or at least the lower portions thereof during all stages of a pregnancy.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction andoperation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and changes may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

, 1. An abdominal supporting belt comprising a front half and a back half, means joining adjacent edges of the back half to the front half whereby the belt will be mounted in encircling relation to the abdomen region of the body of a wearer, said means permitting angular adjustment of the front half in relation to the back half for providing support for the abdomen in various stages of pregnancy, said front half including an inner and outer panelrof resilient material with the ends thereof secured together, said panels being disposed with the ends of one coextensive with the ends of the other and the center of the one below the center of the other but with the major portions of the panels being coextensive thus permitting both panels to engage and support a portion of the abdomen.

2. An abdominal supporting belt comprising a front half and a back half, means joining adjacent edges of the back half to the front half whereby the belt will be mounted in encircling relation to the abdomen region of the body of a wearer, said means permitting angular adjustment of the front half in relation to the back half for providing support for the abdomen in various stages 'of pregnancy, said front half including an inner and outer panel of resilient material with the ends thereof secured together, said panels being disposed with the ends of one coextensive with the ends of the other and the center of the one below the center of the other but with the major portions of the panels being coextensive thus permitting both panels to engage and support 4 a portion of the abdomen, said inner panel having a portion of the bottom edge thereof shortened thus providing a certain amount of slack in the inner panel which permits the outer panel to initially support the abdomen until the abdomen reaches a certain degree of enlargement whereby the inner panel will then increase the supf portv for the abdomen thereby providing a supporting belt which increases its support in proportion to the enlargement of the abdomen.

3. An abdominal supporting belt comprising a front half and a back half, means joining adjacent edges of the back half to the front half whereby the belt will be mounted in encircling relation to the abdomen region of the body of a wearer, said halves having arcuate end edges with the joining means permitting arcuate angular adjustment of the front half in relation to the rear half for providing support for the abdomen throughout the stages of pregnancy, said front half including an inner and outer panel, one of said panels having a length greater than the other whereby a rst panel will initially support the abdomen with the second panel effecting additional support Vupon subsequent enlargement of the abdomen.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said second panel is provided with a slack take-up dart at the lower edge thereof whereby the support of the second panel is effected initially at the bottom edge of the second panel for equalizing the supporting eect of the panels throughout the vertical dimension of the front half.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,401,861 Beck Dec. 27, 1921 1,565,429 Dodge Dec. 15, 1925 2,351,296 Schubert June 13, 1944 2,409,601 Truesdell ---s Oct. 15, 1946 2,587,450 Ericsson Feb. 26, 1952 

